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Julie Chen and Les Moonves arrive at the InStyle and Warner Bros. 67th Annual Golden Globes after party held at the Oasis Courtyard at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 17, 2010 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

(L-R) Actor Scott Bakula, actress Chelsea Field, television host Julie Chen and President and Chief Executive Officer, CBS Corporation Leslie Moonves attend the 'CBS Television Studios 3rd Annual Summer Soiree' held at The London Hotel on May 18, 2015 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images)

THINK IT UP - On Friday September 11, 2015, the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a leading charitable organization of the entertainment industry, is hosting a star-studded "roadblock" telecast fundraising event in support of Think It Up, EIF's new national education initiative. ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC simultaneously are broadcasting the live Think It Up one-hour special. (Photo by Image Group LA/ABC via Getty Images)

(L-R) Sheryl Underwood, Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Aisha Tyler and Julie Chen of CBS' 'The Talk' ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on December 9, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Grant Lamos IV/Getty Images)

Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer of CBS Corporation Les Moonves and Julie Chen attend the 2017 CBS Upfront on May 17, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

Julie Chen attends the 'Who Do You Think You Are?' FYC Event at Wolf Theatre on June 5, 2018 in North Hollywood, California. (Photo by Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images)

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(L-R) Julie Chen and Leslie 'Les' Moonves, president and chief executive officer of CBS Corporation, arrive for a morning session of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 11, 2018 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Every July, some of the world's most wealthy and powerful businesspeople from the media, finance, technology and political spheres converge at the Sun Valley Resort for the exclusive weeklong conference. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

(L-R) Julie Chen and Les Moonves, chief executive officer of CBS Corporation, arrive at the Washington National Cathedral for the funeral service for the late Senator John McCain, September 1, 2018 in Washington, DC. Former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush are set to deliver eulogies for McCain in front of the 2,500 invited guests. McCain will be buried on Sunday at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

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There are a number of reasons it’s hard to imagine Julie Chen’s career at CBS surviving the stunning downfall of her husband Leslie Moonves this week, various reports suggest.

For one thing, as co-host on CBS’ “The Talk,” one of her two shows on her husband’s former network, Chen has often been called on to share tidbits about her personal life as a wife and mother with viewers, according to Variety.

Julie Chen hosting “Big Brother” in 2009.

She and other co-hosts also take time each day to discuss hot topics in the news. And one of the past year’s hot topics on “The Talk” and elsewhere has been the #MeToo movement. But #MeToo has transformed Moonves into the proverbial elephant in the room for any of those discussions, especially this week.

Over the past two months, the New Yorker has published accounts by more than two dozen women alleging that the now former CBS chief sexually harassed or assaulted them, or retaliated against them professionally when they didn’t comply with his demands. The New Yorker’s most recent report Sunday led to Moonves’ forced resignation as CBS Corp. chair and CEO the same day.

Moonves, 68, vehemently denied allegations of sexual assault Sunday, but acknowledged “consensual” relationships with three of his accusers. Chen, 48, avoided any awkward moments on “The Talk” this week by announcing Monday she was taking “a few days off” to be with her family.

That left co-host Sharon Osbourne with the uncomfortable task of announcing Moonves’ departure on Monday’s show. Osbourne voiced support for her friend and colleague Chen but also denounced Moonves, a one-time #MeToo proponent. She said, “After seven more women have come out, these stories are so similar, the pattern is so similar. … He’s not been convicted of any crime, but obviously the man has a problem.”

Gayle King of “CBS This Morning” also voiced support for Chen on Tuesday, but acknowledged the dilemma that both she and CBS are in, according to Deadline. “I feel for Julie Chen today; she is in a very difficult position.”

Since Chen said she was just taking a few days off and would be on “Big Brother” Thursday night, she and others at CBS may hope that the dust will quickly settle and she can pick up where she left off with both of her shows, Deadline added.

“But it’s unclear how ‘The Talk’ will be able to tackle any new #MeToo developments without maximum awkwardness with Chen at the table,” Deadline said. “On the other hand, moving her off the show smacks of punishing a wife for her husband’s alleged sexual affronts.”

Social media this week has not been so kind to Chen, buzzing with questions and speculation about whether she knew about Moonves’ alleged behavior.

People also cried hypocrisy, given the way Chen’s “The Talk” duties often required her to report on the sexual misconduct allegations against Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein or President Donald Trump — or to join her co-hosts in discussing these cases or wives’ decisions to stand by such men or leave.

Kathy Griffin gained widespread notice for a series of tweets Sunday night accusing Chen of being complicit in her husband’s “misogyny.” The comedian also shared a link to a report from the Huffington Post suggesting that Chen knew about Moonves’ “years-long” efforts to hurt Janet Jackson’s career because he didn’t think she had sufficiently apologized for her wardrobe malfunction during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show.

Griffin said she initially had been inclined to sympathize with Chen, saying it wasn’t fair that she would be among women like Chapman, Cosby or Trump to face blowback for her husband’s alleged abuses. But the comedian said the Janet Jackson situation pushed her to reconsider her stance on Chen because it reminded her “so much of what women faced in this business from powerful men who (are) offended that the women (don’t) kiss their ring.”

Griffin then proclaimed to Chen in a tweet: “(Expletive) you and (expletive) your misogynistic husband. … You two deserve each other.”

So, with this sort of controversy also surrounding Chen, is it really possible for her to re-join the gabfest on “The Talk?” Especially if she sticks by her vow in July to “fully support” Moonves, the father of her 8-year-old son, and to continue to defend him as “a kind, decent and moral human being?”

As Gayle King said, Chen is in a difficult position, uniquely so among other famous wronged wives like Camille Cosby, Georgina Chapman or Melania Trump.

Of these three women, Chapman refused to stand by her husband, filing for divorce from Weinstein soon after allegations against him surfaced in the New Yorker and the New York Times in October 2017. The decision to leave was probably key to Chapman having any hope of saving her fashion design company Marchesa.

Meanwhile, Camille Cosby has remained steadfastly, even belligerently loyal to her 81-year-old comedy legend husband — and garnered little sympathy. However, unlike Chen and Chapman, she doesn’t have her own career to protect.

Former model Melania Trump also isn’t known for having a career of late. She may be mostly concerned about the well-being of her 12-year-old son Barron. So far, she hasn’t revealed any intention to move out of the White House and stop being first lady, but she’s kept her thoughts on her marriage and her husband’s alleged infidelities to herself.

First lady Melania Trump, before speaking about her Be Best initiative at the White House in May. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

To some, the Slovenian-born Trump is trapped in the office of first lady and in a marriage to a rich and powerful man. But to others, Melania Trump is complicit in her husband’s controversial presidency. Melania Trump inspires a range of reactions — admiration, sympathy, anger, disgust.

Chen has her fans among “The Talk” and “Big Brother” audiences, who don’t want to see her go. And they say it wouldn’t be fair for her to be punished for her husband’s alleged bad behavior.

But Chen also has spent much of her career at CBS brushing aside speculation that her high-profile hosting gigs are associated with her relationship to the longtime former boss, E! News reported.

Chen’s career at CBS began as anchor of CBS Morning News in the late 1990s, around the time she said she first got to know Moonves. She and Moonves went public with their relationship in 2003, the year his first wife Nancy Moonves filed for divorce. According to E! News, Nancy Moonves saw Chen’s relationship with her husband as a factor in their divorce.

Chen and Moonves married in 2004. Most of the alleged incidents described in the New Yorker stories appear to predate Chen’s marriage to Moonves, taking place between the early 1980s and the early aughts. But one producer told Ronan Farrow for his story published in July that Moonves put his hand up her skirt during a 2006 business meeting to discuss her overseeing the new film studio, CBS Films.

Following the July story, which contained this 2006 groping allegation, Chen issued her statement of support for her husband. Osbourne, trying to be “diplomatic,” posted a since-deleted tweet in which she asked people to not “rush to judgement” about Moonves. At the time, CBS Corp. also stood by Moonves at least to the extent that they were awaiting results of an internal investigation before taking action, E! News reported.

But then additional women came forward in the New Yorker story published Sunday, and the allegations sound far more serious and include claims by at least two women that Moonves forced them to perform oral sex on him and claims, including from a Los Angeles massage therapist, that he exposed himself.

One accuser, veteran television executive Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb, also filed a complaint last year with the Los Angeles police, accusing Moonves of sexual assault. Farrow reported that Moonves was aware of the complaint, which didn’t lead to charges. While law enforcement sources told Farrow they found Golden-Gottlieb’s story credible, prosecutors said the statutes of limitations for the crimes had expired.

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From the discussion on “The Talk” on Tuesday, it doesn’t look like the dust around Moonves’ scandal will settle anytime soon, with Chen’s co-hosts railing against CBS’ reported decision to not make its investigation into Moonves and the company’s culture public, Variety reported.

Meanwhile, on Twitter people mostly said it would be awkward, or worse, for Chen to stay on “The Talk” — especially if she stays with her husband and continues to support him, and in light of the new assault allegations and the allegations regarding Janet Jackson.

Does Julie Chen stay with CBS or go when Les Moonves leaves tomorrow? How is that going to work in light of these new, very serious allegations? Not that she should be at all blamed for his behavior. That’s absurd. But if she continues to stand by him, ew.

Martha Ross is a features writer who covers everything and anything related to popular culture, society, health, women’s issues and families. A native of the East Bay and a graduate of Northwestern University and Mills College, she’s also a former hard-news and investigative reporter, covering crime and local politics.